The Olympians
Episode Four: THE NIGHT STALKER
By Nike
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	“Hey, look who’s coming.” Lance began as he raised his head and saw Firehawk heading towards them.
	“Hi, F.H.!” Centaurie waved at her friend to approach them. “How’s your sprained ankle?”
	Firehawk looked uneasy. “It’s better, Cent.” She replied, as she stood infront of the small group.
	Blaze blinked. “You mean it still aches?”
	“SHH! Not so loud!” Firehawk looked around to make sure that Red Cross wasn’t nearby.
	Phoenix chuckled in an amused manner and then faced Firehawk. “So, what brings you out of the infirmary, Firehawk?”
	Firehawk shrugged. “Nothing much,” she said. “I was hoping that something would come up.”
	“How about patrolling the city again?” Alex suggested.
	“ARE YOU KIDDING?!” Hotshot vehemently exclaimed, standing up from where she was seated. “That’s the last time I’m going to patrol out with you people!” she shouted as she pointed at Lance and Blaze.
	“It wasn’t just your day, kid.” Phoenix began sympathetically at her, though she trying very hard not to laugh.
	“Why? What happened to Hotshot?” Firehawk demanded upon seeing Hotshot’s cheeks redden with embarrassment.
	“Fell in an open manhole.” Lance snickered.
	“And got covered with mud and other disgusting stuff from head to toe.” Added Blast, doubling over with laughter.
	Hotshot glared at them. “Very funny, people. Ahahaha.” She began in a sarcastic voice.
	She was going to add another remark when suddenly the image of a well known robotic scientist, Dr. Kathleen Aton appear on the visual screen.
	“Greetings, Firebirds.”
	Phoenix nodded and approached the screen. “It’s always a pleasure to talk to Dr. Aton. SO what can we do for you?”
  	“Firebirds, I bring you an urgent request. I happen to be showing my new creation, the Nightstalker, the most advanced robotic ninja of Earth in the Science and Technology Exhibit; and I request that you to guard it during the coming press conference to ensure that it will not fall into the wrong hands 
       But at that moment, unknown to them, Laserclaw, the Harpy spy-vulture had been recording the entire scene before flying silently away and toward the Harpy Underwater Base. 
	Hours later, in the building where the science exhibits were displayed…
	“A GUY ROBOT?!” Firehawk practically hollered in the room upon hearing that she was assigned to guard the Nightstalker.  “WHY DO I HAVE TO BE THE ONE GAURDING THAT OVERGROWN TIN CAN IN THE FIRST PLACE?!!”
	Phoenix winced at the sound of Firehawk’s voice. “A little louder, Firehawk, I don’t think that the people in Alaska could hear you right now.” 
	“I don’t care! I don’t want to be stuck baby-sitting that, that THING!” Firehawk exclaimed. “It hurts my Amazon pride!”
	Phoenix sighed and silently started counting to a hundred before she finally loses her temper. “Look, Firehawk. If I were you, I’d just get it over with. The sooner its done, the lesser time you’ll have to watch the Nightstalker.” she told Firehawk and left the room.
	“Oh great, just GREAT,” Firehawk muttered as soon as the Firebird commander left the room. “Blast and Blaze get to patrol the area while I get to baby-sit a MACHINE, for crying out loud!”   
       “I’ll take your place, if you want to, FH—OOF!” Centaurie was choked off as Firehawk gave her a bone-crunching bear hug.
	“Thank you! Oh thank you, Cent! You saved my pride!” Firehawk exclaimed and releasing her, she ran out of the room.  
	A few minutes later, Centaurie, being bored by her duty, decided to get out of the room and look at the other exhibits in the building. 
       As soon as she got out, the Harpy commander, Hecate; and the Harpy second-in-commander, Darkhawk; along with two of insect transforming Insektors; Wee-evil and Hopper entered the room through the air-vents. They had learned about the Nightstalker and planned to use the robot against their enemies, the Firebirds.
       “This is going to be another wild goose chase.” The Harpy second-in-commander muttered sarcastically. 
       Irritated by her voice, the Harpy commander blasted Darkhawk to silence her for the moment. “SHUT UP!”
       Then Hecate placed a microchip while Wee-evil attached a transmitter into the robot’s head and they were just about to activate it when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps.
       “Firebirds!” Hopper exclaimed. “Quick! Let’s make our escape!”
       Wee-evil frowned. “But we haven’t activated the robot yet!” he protested.
       “It doesn’t matter, we can activate it using the transmitter.” Hecate assured them as she went inside the air-vents. “That way those Firebirds won’t know what hit them.”
       “Good, I can’t wait to see the look on their faces.” The Harpy second-in-commander snickered as she climbed inside the air-vents. 
       Wee-evil and Hopper nodded in agreement and followed Darkhawk back into the ventilation tunnel.  	
       “You were lucky that you got Centaurie to take your place, FH.” Blast remarked as they came to see how Centaurie was doing, an hour later.
	Firehawk nodded. “Yeah, and now that the Press conference is over, we could now go home, relax and…”
	Her voice trailed of at the last sentence and they stopped at their tracks. Centaurie flew out of the room and her body slammed against the nearby wall.
	“Now I know what a pancake feels like,” Centaurie moaned as she attempted to get up, every part of her body protesting her movement.
	“Centaurie?” Blast began as they ran towards their fallen comrade. “What happened?”
       “The robot…it suddenly activated and…tried to escape…” Centaurie gasped out. “I tried to…stop it…but…”
       Blast shook her head as realization hit her. “We are in big trouble.”
       Centaurie saw that Firehawk suddenly got up and stomped toward the room with her fists tightly clenched. “FH, NO!” she shouted after her. “You could get yourself hurt!” 
       Firehawk glanced back at her over her shoulder. “Me, get hurt by that tin can of one of them male species?” she began and scoffed, facing the room once more. “No way! No tin can is going to hurt a friend of mine and get away with it!” she shouted entering the room and slamming the door after her.
       Minutes later, Blast and Centaurie saw the robot step out of the room, relatively unharmed. They looked at each other before running into the room. 
	“Firehawk!”  
	“Firehawk, are you all right?” Centaurie began as she and Blast found their friend under a large cabinet.
	Firehawk crawled out of the over turned cabinet and groaned. “I just got clobbered here by that overgrown tin can and you ask me if I’m all right?!” she snarled at Centaurie. Then she shook her head. “No, nothing is broken, except for my pride.”
	Blast sighed. “Don’t worry, I think we can still catch him.” She began. “He couldn’t have gotten far.”
	Firehawk stood up, eyes filled with determination. “Great, he won’t escape me THIS time.” She swore. “Let’s go after it.”
 	Later…
	“Over there!” Blast shouted as her sharp eyes noticed the robot a few meters away infront of them. “Straight ahead!”
	“You’re dead, tin can!” Firehawk shouted as she ran after it.
	At the sound of her voice, the Nightstalker quickly turned sharply to the left and ran for the exit hall…
	…Where Phoenix and Blaze happen to be patrolling at that moment.
	CRASH! The robot crashed through them and knocking two Firebirds to the floor by surprise.
	Phoenix got up slowly, her body feeling as if she had been body-slammed by Hecate against a steel wall. “Ouch. Did anyone get the number on that truck?” she muttered. Her dark green eyes suddenly widened as got a slight glimpse of the robot. “Blaze! Tag it, now!”
	Acting fast, Blaze was able to tag the robot with one of her homing devices before it disappeared. “What WAS that thing?” she began.
	Phoenix frowned. “I think I have a pretty good idea.”     
	“Phoenix? Blaze? What happened?” Centaurie began as she, Firehawk and Blast found Phoenix helping Blaze up from the floor.
	“The Nightstalker crashed through us.” Blaze moaned.
	“What is it, Blaze? Is your leg broken?” Blast asked her friend.
	“Worse than that, my portable CD player has been smashed!” Blaze wailed, holding the remains of her CD player.
	Suddenly Dr. Aton rushed towards them. “Firebirds! The Nightstalker is missing!”
	“We know, doctor.” Phoenix told her quietly and then faced Firehawk with narrowed eyes. “I definitely demand an explanation for this, Firehawk!” 
	Later…
	“Then all is lost!” Dr Aton exclaimed as soon as they all heard Firehawk’s explanation.
	The Firebird commander shook her. “I don’t think so, Blaze was able to get a homing device at it before it left.” She began and then contacted Synergy I, the Firebirds’ supercomputer, through her communicator and told it to trace the signal on the Nightstalker.
	“Location traced.” The computer reported. “Subject is moving towards Nat Nuclear Power Plant as of present time.”
	“Good,” Phoenix replied. “Now tap into the robot’s brain circuit and find out what caused it to go haywire. Phoenix, out.” She added and then signed off. She faced the others. “To the power plant.”    
	Minutes later, Synergy I contacted Phoenix as they were all heading for the power plant along with Dr. Aton.
	“Finished tapping into the Nightstalker’s programming, Firebird commander.” The super computer reported.
	“Proceed,” Phoenix replied.
	“The Nightstalker was programmed to wreck the power plant by the Harpy commander.” 
	Phoenix groaned as a headache started to form in her temples. “I was afraid that Hecate had something to do with this.”
	“Hey, Phoenix! I just remembered something!” Blaze began. “That power plant is under investigation because of some rumors that there’s a leak in there.”
	“You are such a know-it-all, aren’t you Blaze?” Firehawk snapped at her.
	“At least I WASN’T clobbered by a GUY!” Blaze retorted.
	“Will you two please SHUT UP!” Phoenix began at them irritably.	
	“Phoenix, a thought just crossed my mind.” Centaurie began. “If the robot wrecks the plant, it could trigger a nuclear meltdown that wipe out every living thing within a 10,000 kilometer wide radius. Or maybe even more.”
	“If the Nightstalker is to be used as a weapon of destruction.” Dr. Aton began ruefully. “Then I give you, Firebirds my permission to destroy it.”
	“I understand how you feel.” Centaurie told her sympathetically.
	A smile formed on Firehawk’s face. “Hey, Phoenix. Do you think that I’ll have the chance to wreck to robot?” 
	But before the Firebird commander could answer, her communicator activated suddenly. “Phoenix, we got bit trouble, and I do mean big.” Lance reported. “The Harpies are, um, attacking the pier docks!”
	Phoenix frowned. “So, why aren’t you investigating it?”
	“We are.” He replied. “But they are pounding in on us HARD!”
	“But what about the Skybirds?” Phoenix demanded.
	“Airbolt is down. Fireway has been made for target practice and…”   
	“Stop, stop. I got the point.” Phoenix told him. “We’ll be there as soon as we’re finished here.”
	“Okay, Lance, over and out.” He signed off
	“Great, more trouble.” Firehawk muttered.
	“Hey, everybody LOOK!” Blaze pointed at the moving shadows nearby. “It’s HIM!” she shouted as they ran towards the direction Blaze pointed.
	“ALL RIGHT! LET’S WRASSLE!” Firehawk shouted as she dived for the robot.
	Dr Aton arrived just in time to see Firehawk struggling against the Nightstalker on the ground. “Firebirds, the Nightstalker has a weak part.” She began. “If a laser beam was fired at the small hole at the back of its head, it will automatically shut off. 
	“But if we shoot at it now, we could hit Firehawk too!” Blaze protested.
	“I guess that’s a chance we’ll have to take.” Blast began as she carefully aimed her blaster. “Just say when Phoenix.”
	Phoenix saw that Firehawk moved bit away from the robot. “Now!” 
	Blast pulled the trigger, hitting the robot and missing Firehawk by an inch. 
	“WHAT THE---?!” Firehawk exclaimed in surprise as the robot rolled lifelessly on the ground. “Hey, no fair! I WAS supposed to thrash this pile of junk!” she complained as the Firebird commander approached her.
	Phoenix helped her up. “You’re lucky you didn’t get yourself hurt.” She remarked.
	“ME? Get hurt by one of them male species?” Firehawk boasted. “Since when?”
	“Fifteen minutes ago,” Blast replied, matter-of-factly. “You were clobbered by one of them male species.” 
	Firehawk’s face darkened. “Oh, that.” She murmured. “That doesn’t count.” 
	Blast rolled her eyes. “Oh SURE, it does.”
	“Will you two cut it out?” Phoenix began in an irritable manner. “We have more work to do.”
	Centaurie frowned. “At the base?” she asked. 
	“No, at the pier docks.” Phoenix replied. “Centaurie, Blast, Blaze, escort the robot back to the room. I want you to guard it just in case the Harpies try to steal it again.” She began as she faced Centaurie and Blast. Then she faced Firehawk. “Firehawk, come with me.”
	In the Firebird infirmary…
	“No fair! Why isn’t Silverwing in here?” Fireway complained, nursing a broken arm. “We both got blasted by Hecate!”
	“Because HE wasn’t stupid enough to fly at her at close range.” Airbolt retorted. “Like you.”
	“As if HE hadn’t been dumb enough to get hit by Darkhawk AT CLOSE RANGE!” Fireway sneered sarcastically. 
	“Well at least I’m not that crazy enough to yell, ‘Goodbye, cruel world!’, like some lunatic!” Airbolt snapped at him.
	“Hey! I heard THAT!” shouted Slingshot as he glared at them.
	“Shut up, both of you!” Red Cross ordered. “Or I’ll have to plaster your mouths!” 
	Airbolt groaned “Now I know how FH feels like,” he muttered.
       Suddenly, Lance barged into the infirmary.
       “Hey, RC! There’s another emergency!” he shouted. “Silverwing and Starfleet have been badly injured!”
       Red Cross gave Airbolt and Slingshot a withering look. “Looks like you are going to have company.” She sighed as she left the room.
       Meanwhile at the battlefield, Phoenix and Firehawk arrived just in time.
       “Phoenix! Firehawk are we glad to see you two!” Dazzler waved at them from the boulder that she had taken cover in. 
       Phoenix nodded as she glanced at the fighting. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked, not noticing Firehawk sneaking out of sight and teleporting away.
       In the lab… 
	“Firehawk?” Blast exclaimed upon seeing Firehawk in the lab. “What are you doing here?”
	“Aren’t you supposed to be in the battlefield?” Centaurie began as she stood beside Dr. Aton. 
	“Whatever,” Firehawk ignored them and faced the scientist instead. “Hey, Doc, do you remember what you said about giving us permission to dismantle that overgrown pile of nuts and bolts when necessary?”
	“Well, uh, yes, sure,” Dr. Aton began, too surprised to comment otherwise.
	“Thank you,” Firehawk began and then headed towards the robot.
	Blast quickly ran after her friend. “Now, FH, I KNOW what you’re thinking of doing but….”
	“No way, Blast.” Firehawk cut her off. “I’ve got a score to settle.”  	
	Later, back in the battlefield, Phoenix and Hecate were battling furiously when suddenly Firehawk teleported into their midst, carrying a sack of what seemed to be scrap metal.
	“What the--?!” Hecate exclaimed.
	Phoenix blinked in surprise. “Firehawk?”
	“Phoenix, duck!” Firehawk shouted as she hurled the sack at Hecate, taking the Harpy commander by surprise that she ordered the Harpies to retreat.  
       More minutes later, the Firebirds have finished cleaning up the mess from the battle and were now preparing to return to base.
	“Firehawk, come to my office as soon as we return to base.” The Firebird commander began curtly as she passed her and Firehawk by.
       Firehawk turned to see Blast’s impish grin. She was sure that Blast told Phoenix about the robot.
       Inside the command chamber…
       “Firehawk, close the door after you get in, will you?” Phoenix’s voice came from the room as soon as Firehawk opened the door.
       Firehawk gulped and glanced over her shoulder to see Blast mouthing the words, ‘I told you so’.
       “Traitor,” She muttered under her breath as she stepped in the room.
       Minutes later, Firehawk went out of the room, looking glum. Blast was waiting for her in the hallway.
       “See? I told you so.” Blast began.
       “Oh, shut up.” Firehawk muttered.